Kain turned and began walking slightly northwest into the forest. Lara looked at Raziel with a questioning expression. He shrugged and followed after the master vampire. Lara sighed deeply, and after a moment, followed him.

The three walked in perfect silence for a long while, no one saying a thing. Lara and Kain tried to study the other without their opposite knowing and found it to be much harder than previously planned. Kain noted the same things that marked her as an off-worlder that Raziel did with a few additions. For one, her image or interference was nowhere in Nosgoth's history, something only a few people would know. He was one. Moebius was another. There was one other thing which he noted of interest: something about her felt similar to himself. After a few moments of thought, he realized it was the feeling of a Guardian. And, strangely enough, she felt like she had the energy of the Balance Pillar all over her. He turned to her.

"You're a Guardian, aren't you?"

She blinked at him a few times.

"I personally just found that out yesterday. And I still don't know what's so bloody important about that."

Kain looked over at Raziel without responding to her annoyed comment.

"You manage to pick some very strange company, Raziel."

"I think you could give me a good run on that one, Kain," was the retort.

Lara just shook her head as she looked between the two. Both had an off feeling about them, but who was she to say anything? She ran around on lost continents and fought mythological creatures. She was a far cry from normalcy.

The trio traveled on until they came to a huge mountain . . . retreat, for lack of a better term. Carved in the mountains, the structure was in the shape of a huge skull that gazed dispassionately across the land. Kain quickly showed them the way through it.

"Nupraptor's keep," Raziel murmured.

"A man who was well-known for his illusions," Kain responded. He glanced back at Lara and quickly gave her a run-down on how the Pillars had Guardians and how dark forces had been seeking the end of them. He told her of the assassination of Ariel, the Guardian of the Pillar of Balance before Kain, and how Nupraptor had found her corpse and infected the other Guardians with his insanity in fear of a traitor.

They quickly reached the top of the building, avoiding the few beings who wandered down the lonely halls. A few became too inquisitive for their own good, but Lara's pistols and Raziel's Soul Reaver were a quick deterrent against them. They came to the huge eyes of the skull. While Kain and Raziel studied a few runes on the wall, she glanced out of one window to see a long, unbroken view of Nosgoth in its glory. She headed to the other eye to see if the view was slightly different only to find a huge change of scenery. This view was of a broken and decrepit Nosgoth, a world in which only fire and hate lived. Raziel walked up quietly behind her.

"Two views of our world," he stated softly. "The one you're looking at now is what this world will look like in the future with the way it stands now. We're trying to stop that."

"One of these days, Raziel," she commented softly, "we're going to have to sit down for a long unbroken while and you can explain to me in detail what's happened here."

"Come along," Kain's voice came to them from the hall. They followed the master vampire as he walked through a large chamber with intricate symbols decorating the walls. Raziel stopped suddenly and walked to a corner of the room and examined it carefully.

"What are you doing?" Kain demanded. Lara found her mouth open to make the same inquiry. Raziel ignored him and touched a place on the wall. To their surprise, a part of the wall slid in and away, revealing another chamber behind it. He stepped in while Lara and Kain followed. In the room amid several images of the blue-skinned, winged race was a single olive green restoration crystal. Raziel reached up and touched it gently, watching as the hard surface disintegrated into a mist of green particles and washed over his body, forming this time over his wings. A fierce itching spread across the tattered remains and remained for much longer than the two times before. When the annoyance finally faded, he refused to look behind him, almost afraid of what he might see. He heard Kain chuckle softly and an impressed whistle from Lara. He glanced back and stretched the skin to find a pair of wings, bones fully intact and restored to mobility. He moved out into the open and beat them a few times. He found them to be in working order. Beneath the tabard, an unbelieving smile broke out across his face.

"All right, Icarus," Lara said with a laugh as she watched him explore the lengths of his wings. "Your wings have been glued on. Don't fly too close to the sun this time."

"Hm?" Raziel looked at her, a puzzled expression evident. She shook her head.

"It's an old legend from a place called Greece in my world. The story is about a young boy whose father glues a pair of feathered wings on his back so they can escape. He warns his son not to fly too close to the sun because the glue is made primarily of wax. His son enjoys his wings and glides with the birds, soon forgetting his father's warning and flying too high. The wax melts and he plummets to his doom."

"How pleasant."

"The Greeks were romantics, but they were not sentimentalists."

"If we are quite done with the history lesson," Kain interrupted, "we are near the final hall."

The trio fell silent again as they continued in. When they came to a pair of huge double doors, Kain pushed them open slightly and indicated for them to stay low and close to the back wall. He looked out around the corner to see a young male dodging through rolling balls to try to cut down a man who sat in a chair and laughed at his progress. Lara peeked around Kain's torso to see the young man had very pale skin and white hair pulled up. He finished off the old man in a spectacular display and lopped off his head. The young man walked over and picked it up.

"Poor Nupraptor," he commented with a sigh, "for I knew him well . . . Well, not really."

The male laughed to himself, turned and headed out the door. Beside her, Kain chuckled quietly. Raziel just shook his head slightly. Kain walked out into the open and through the chamber with the Soul Reaver and the Tomb Raider following.

"How long is he going to be with us?" Lara asked Raziel quietly. He shrugged.

"Kain doesn't usually stay around very long, but who knows? This is a situation I don't think anyone was expecting."

The fresh air that blasted into Lara's face as they walked out was a welcome relief. She was even pleased to see the little glowing bugs.

. . . Wait a minute. Pleased to see the glowing bugs?! She mentally thwapped herself and sighed deeply. This place was beginning to grow on her. Not a good sign.

"Vampire!" a voice suddenly shouted. Lara looked up to see a group of about twenty Sarafan warriors armed with scythes and swords racing toward them threateningly. Kain smiled slightly.

"Oh good. I was getting hungry."

Raziel's eyes flared. "As was I."

Lara looked at the two a moment, then sidled away and pulled out her pistols in a quick move. So far, she was shooting more humans than vampires. Just like old times.

She took out a few of the Sarafan, but quickly stopped and just watched. She had already seen Raziel in action, but this was the first time she had seen Kain in a fight. To her surprise, he let the first get awfully close, then easily grabbed and ripped the blade out of his hands. In a quick and practiced move, he brought the blade down, nearly cutting the human in half. Lara had a feeling he could have if he had chosen to.

She watched his performance in awe at his sheer ability in a battle. Beside him, Raziel broke through another's guard and impaled him on the ethereal blade. She looked between the two, noting similarities and differences. Kain was controlled, a power that had direction and tight lines. Raziel was feral, a thunderstorm that knew no bounds and would tolerate no laws over him. But both fought like it had been what they were raised for. The sword was their trusted friend, the battle lust their love. Blood and killing their meat and drink, and death their lover.

When the battle was silent, Kain and Raziel having ended all their short lives, she began to clap softly. Both men turned to look at her. She nodded her head toward Kain as she applauded to indicate it was he she had found her respect boosted for. The corners of his mouth twitched upward as he swung his arm out and bowed deeply. Lara's eyebrow raised. The bow was graceful and spoke of a man who had done it more than once and probably on a fairly regular schedule. A noble perhaps? There was apparently more to him than there seemed.

Lara reloaded her pistols and looked up at the two men. Raziel took the lead after shooting Kain a dirty look. Lara followed him, and Kain brought up the rear. The three continued silently for a long while, the greenery of the forest lulling them into a companionable silence. Lara looked around at the peace and realized how much she liked it. Yet still her fingers stayed only a few inches away from her pistols. They were her only bet for her life here.

"So tell me, Lara," Kain began from behind her. "What possessed you to become Raziel's lover?"

"At least you use the phrase 'lover'," Lara grumbled. "But nothing possessed me. I am not his lover."

"But you did seem to be quite comfortable traveling with him and you did seek him out first as a guide."

Lara shook her head. "I'm only comfortable around him because we've fought together and I've seen how well he can fight. He's someone I would trust at my back. And I did not seek him out first. He just happened to be the first one I found."

"Hm. So you are not his lover?"

"No!"

"Then are you to say that you are free?"

Both Lara and Raziel looked back at him simultaneously with the same expression of 'are you kidding me?!' written on their faces.

"Go . . . go teleport off somewhere and make yourself useful," Lara demanded. "I am not going to discuss my love life with you. If I wanted people constantly hitting on me, I would have stayed at home! I have enough problem with it there that I don't need it here."

Kain sighed. "Too bad," he murmured. He said it to her, but kept his eyes on Raziel, enjoying the flash of anger he saw there. It amused him to see Raziel of all people jealous. And even better, he wasn't aware the jealousy was there.

The forest around them slowly widened and opened up to hills and beyond that mountains. Lara was enlightened to the fact that they would have to go through the foothills to get up to the mountains. They traveled down a well-beaten path that carved through the land, causing the rock to go up on either side of them to heights of thirty feet. Suddenly, the path opened up to what looked like a mountain pass. Male voices flew on the breeze to where they stood. Straining her eyes, Lara could just make out the images of hundreds of Sarafan warriors all marching down the close path two by two. Raziel growled low in his throat. He glanced at Kain and Kain nodded. Lara noted immediately some thought passed between the two, but she was left out as to what it was.

"What?" she demanded. Raziel looked down at her.

"The Time Streamer holds a staff which enables him to incapacitate his vampire enemies. Somehow, these warriors either have it, or they have some magical connection to it which allows them to travel in its area of influence."

"Moebius never lets that staff out of his hands," Kain told them. "So I am betting it is a focus of some sort which allows them to do this."

"So what you're saying," Lara summed up, "is that in this fight you two aren't going to be at your peak."

"Yes."

"Wonderful." She rolled her eyes slightly, then happened to stop on the cliff of the pass. The rock wasn't solidly carved, but instead almost looked like it was asking for an avalanche, all sorts of oddly shaped rocks precariously balanced on each other. She grinned and pulled out the rocket launcher.

"Not this again, Lara," Kain said with a sigh. "You can't kill me with that."

"Who said I was trying to kill you?" she retorted. She aimed the rocket launcher toward the Sarafan.

"And that certainly won't work," came the comment from the master vampire. "You could not possibly have enough of whatever it is you use to charge that thing to take them all out."

She tossed him a slight knowing grin over her shoulder, then turned back to the sight and took aim. Then with a quick flick of her arms, she turned it to the rock wall and fired three times, sending three rockets careening toward it. For good measure, she sent another three to the other side. The rocks poured down toward the path having been shifted and thrown by Lara's rockets. Two landslides smashed down into the path, and unfortunately for the humans, right into the Sarafan. Dust and chipped rock shards flew through the air as Lara watched her handy work with a malicious smile on her face. From behind her, Kain chuckled.

"I will admit, you are by far one of the most . . . interesting humans I have met. If only humanity as a whole was much more like you."

"If humanity as a whole was like me," Lara replied, "I'd be out of a job."

The dust cleared to reveal the few surviving Sarafan who had been able to get out of the way in time. Raziel looked askance at Lara to see if she wanted any part of the ending of the remaining humans. She shook her head.

"Go ahead. Have fun."

While Raziel finished off the last, Kain was looking through the rubble for the focus they had used to connect the staff's power and the warriors. He shoved away huge boulders like they were paperweights until he found what he was looking for. It was a wand-sized replica of the staff, complete with the snake curling around the staff and trying to swallow the blue-purple crystal. With a grimace of distaste, he shattered it, immediately feeling the relief of not having the thing's power pressed against his. Raziel wadded through the rocks and bodies to stand next to him and watched Lara's careful progress from boulder to boulder to meet them. When she was standing next to them and looking up at them expectantly, Kain glanced over his shoulder toward the direction they would be travelling.

"There is a town just up ahead. The day grows old and we are traveling with a human who must rest whether she admits it or not." Kain held up a forestalling hand to quiet Lara's protest. "We have only one problem with staying there as I see things."

"And that is?" Raziel inquired. Kain met his eyes.

"You."

"How would you hide what you are?" Lara asked Kain. A corner of his mouth twitched upward and he made a small motion with his hand. A very pastel, multicolored mist rose around his form, then cleared to reveal a human male dressed in clothes that would mark him as a well to do man, higher than a peasant, but lower than a noble. He looked down at himself and grimaced.

"It's a far cry from what I used to be, but it will attract less attention."

She noted with some amusement that his voice was the same. The illusion wavered and vanished like a mirage as he gazed thoughtfully at Raziel.

"Hm. Come here, Raziel. It is time you are taught this ability. I think ultimately that will aid our cause faster than anything."

" 'Our' cause?" Raziel repeated. "When have you ever worked for anyone's cause, Kain? What cause do you have going behind the scenes?"

"Raziel," he retorted in a tone that was a strange mix of mock-surprise that he would say anything like that and a condescending tinge. "How could you ever say such things of me?"

"Very easily. I know you."

"All right, boys, enough," Lara broke in. "We have things to do and it's probably going to take long enough without you two bitching at each other."

Kain quickly drew Raziel over to the side and taught him what he needed to know while Lara kept an eye out on the area around them. She didn't understand what they were saying, nor did she care to learn it. Magic was something that she never believed in. Even now she found it hard to believe it existed. As far as she was concerned, there was nothing that was magical. It was all some sort of paranormal energy or ability, but not magic. There was always a reason for everything.

"All right, Lara," a voice said behind her. She turned to find a man she didn't recognize standing there. He had blonde hair cut short and gray eyes with a slightly paler than normal complexion. It took her a minute to realize it was Raziel.

"We're ready to go."

"Actually," Kain said from where he had moved next to her, "no, we're not. Lara, here women do not keep their hair long after childhood. You—"

"I am NOT cutting my hair," she growled in a feral tone. She reached up and quickly unbraided her hair, letting it fall to nearly her knees. Then she twisted it up in a sort of bun, curled it under, and retied it so the end of the ponytail barely touched her shoulders. It made her look like she had short hair and made Raziel realize how much better he liked her with long hair.

"Better?"

Kain blinked at her a moment. "I don't think I will ever understand women and their hair."

"Don't bother," was the response. "You're not supposed to be able to."

He shook his head before reapplying the illusion. Then he took the lead and walked down the path. Rounding the bend in the path, she was confronted with a rather small town, but with people walking in and out of buildings. They looked curiously at the newcomers, but said nothing of it. Kain led them surly as if he had been there before. He headed immediately for what consisted of an inn. He handled buying the rooms, and Lara only caught bits of, "What is the world coming to?" out of the innkeeper and something from Kain which sounded suspiciously like, "ménage à trois," followed quickly by the keeper's laughter. A nearby barmaid glanced around Kain at her, then looked at Raziel, and commented something along the lines of, "Lucky woman." Kain laughed and handed something across the table to the keeper and nodded to Raziel and Lara.